Five Times Ethan helped Lily and One Time She helped Him
by Lizzybethx
Summary: We all know Lily's bedside manner can be a bit... difficult at times so who better to help her than the all-round cheerful, successful doctor, Ethan Hardy.
1. Insensitivity

"Ethan?" A voice called across the central island of the surprisingly quiet ED.

"Mm-hmmm?" Ethan replied, attention focused on the notes he was completing for a patient, with multiple complex conditions and several injuries.

"Are you busy at the moment?" Connie asked, with such a strange tone, Ethan looked up at her immediately.

"Well... Yes, Mrs Beauchamp." Ethan answered tentatively; afraid the clinical lead would start shouting at him about treatment times again.

"Can it wait?" Connie asked, her voice outwardly polite, but with a steely undertone, indicating that there was a correct answer.

Ethan opened his mouth and closed it again before finally deciding that actually, yes, the notes could definitely wait.

"Great," Connie smiled, a tight-lipped serious smile, barely raising the corners of her mouth. "I need you to talk to Dr Chao."

Ethan span around instantly, his face surprised and a sudden urgency to his manner. "Lily! Why do I need to talk to Lily?"

"Dr Chao," Connie began cautiously, fully aware (like the majority of the ED staff) of the registrar's romantic feelings for the F2. Stopping to think, she began again. "Dr Chao," she repeated herself more confidently, but with clinical detachment, "Has been -frankly- rude to a patient in her care, through her insensitive questions and general attitude."

Ethan suddenly felt worry for the young women at whom Connie's growing rage was apparently aimed. "Has Li -Dr Chao deliberately insulted the patient or has she simply offended them with ill-considered remarks?" he asked carefully, pausing to select his words, all the while somehow retaining an outward appearance of calm, despite his heart at least feeling as though it was beginning to beat faster.

"Thankfully it is the later, or Dr Chao would be in even more trouble than she currently finds herself in. She simply cannot empathise with anyone, even other members of staff." Connie replied scathingly, as if daring the young man to contradict her.

"And I am required to talk to her, because?" Ethan asked, confusion and anxiety now showing plainly on his face.

"Because Dr Hardy, Dr Chao respects your opinions more than most." The phrase 'including mine' silently implied, with a hint of bitterness and anger. "I also cannot criticise your empathy or people skills, however your time management..."

"Leaves a great deal to be desired." Ethan finished abruptly. "I'll go and talk to her now, before she starts treating her next patient." He walked away quickly, leaving Connie shaking her head, over the volatility and "sheer stupidity and risk" associated with love -especially but not limited to, that of the unrequited lovers.

* * *

Ethan groaned as he saw Lily deep in conversation with Jemma (a chatty, incredibly smart young doctor) or rather, Lily being as talkative as an "ice-cold snow princess"-Caleb's imaginative description- could be: not particularly. Ethan stopped walking and stood watching the two for a while. Jemma was admittedly attractive, with life and happiness seemingly glowing in her smile and Lily was in no particular aspect that he could name "more" than her friend. However in Ethan's eyes, Lily was beyond pretty; she was almost perfect -according to his heart at least. Despite not wanting to interrupt their conversation, a glance at a glaring Mrs Beauchamp reminded Ethan of the severity of the situation.

"Lily, I mean, Dr Chao, can I talk to you for a moment?" He asked quietly, not wanting to make a scene. Lily looked at him, surprised, but she seemed to understand the importance attached to the question. Making excuses to Jemma, Lily followed Ethan to the staff room, where he stood, awkwardly, by the sink.

Ethan fought to get some semblance of order in his head before opening his mouth. Taking a deep breath he started talking.

"Dr Chao," he began before the look of confusion and (dare he say it) hurt, sent his heart tumbling. "Lily. Mrs Beauchamp has asked me to talk to you about," he frantically searched for an inoffensive way to explain, "bedside manner, especially 'empathising' with patients."

"Why?" Lily queried instantly, "I haven't done anything!" She continued, fear creeping in to her voice.

"That," Ethan thought silently to himself, "seems to be the problem."

Speaking aloud, he managed to be less cynical and far kinder. "It's not that you've done something wrong, per se, more that, you could possibly do more to ... relate to patients ... to make them feel that you care."

"But I help them? I would personally rather have treatment than smiles and polite conversation. Isn't doing my job more important than some grand show of solidarity? "

"Well, sort of. They are, in a way, the same thing. It just makes the patients feel more inclined to tell you information and they feel safer, more comfortable, if you're kinder."

"Right, okay. I'll try and take your comments on board, Dr Hardy."

Ethan suddenly understood the look of hurt that had appeared on Lily's face when he had addressed her as Dr Chao, that look probably now mirrored on his own countenance. It was the use of surnames; it put distance between them both, reduced them to merely, polite co-workers -nothing more.

He caught himself; they were nothing more than that.

Shaking his head, he removed his glasses and cleaned them as Lily returned to her conversation with Jemma. A few cursory glances were sent in his direction, leading to his decision to leave that area, for a while.

* * *

Seeing Mrs Beauchamp striding purposefully toward Resus, Ethan hurried to catch up with her. As they walked through the swing doors, Connie turned her head to fire several rapid questions at the younger doctor.

"Did you talk to her? What did you say? How did she take it? Is she going to improve?"

Ethan looked slightly to the side of her face as he answered.

"I talked to Dr Chao, but I don't think I explained myself particularly well and I think she's more offended, than inspired to take the initiative to work on her people skills. I'm sorry Mrs Beauchamp. It might be better for to you talk to her yourself."

Connie gave her trademark, disapproving scowl. Ethan shrank away, and disappeared into the rapidly moving crowd of people flowing through the ED.

Connie sighed. She really did not want to go have this conversation with Lily; she was just too tired.

Maybe... No, not him. Or her. Or her. She tried to think of someone she could delegate to. Maybe Robyn would like to talk to Lily? It couldn't hurt to try.

* * *

Lily was sitting in the staff room on a short break, waiting for a call back to cubicles. She started thinking about Ethan, more specifically his attempt to help with her "people skills". Lily cringed remembering her defensive response; Ethan had only been trying to help after all. Thinking clearly, no longer distracted by Ethan (or specifically Jemma's comment about him), Lily decided he was right, she did need to work on her people skills. And she knew just the nominally smiling nurse to ask.


	2. Indecision

Lily read over the patient's notes for the third time. It was an apparently simple case; the patient had been complaining of a bad cough, a slight difficulty in breathing and an almost-constant feeling of breathlessness for a few weeks, and had today collapsed, without breathing. The patient clearly had a respiratory disease with the possibility of lung cancer. However she was sure she was missing something, it just felt like it all didn't quite add up. She knew it was there, somewhere in the back of her mind. Alongside the fear that if she ignored it, the patient would be in for further complications and at greater risk of death. Lily glared at the notes, as if that would lead to the key phrases jumping out at her.

Connie suddenly rounded the corner, clearly on the warpath.

"Not finished with that patient yet Dr Chao?" Mrs Beauchamp asked, with clear disapproval

"No, sorry Mrs Beauchamp. I'll send him up to wards now." Lily replied quickly, even though it was not entirely true.

"Very well." Mrs Beauchamp said, as she continued on her way, to find that particular person who would today receive the long, angry lecture.

Lily sighed, she really wanted to go over these notes again to look for that one irritatingly hidden thing, but she knew what she had to do. Calling Max over, she asked for a trolley up to wards. She checked over the notes, one last time before handing them to the nurse accompanying the patient on their way to the Lungs and Respiratory Diseases department.

Lily stood, somewhat awkwardly by the central workstation. The ED was quiet, not surprisingly so, but relatively empty. She could have spent longer with that patient, actually worked out which disease he had contracted, send him up to Wards with a better diagnosis. She sighed. How was she supposed to improve and stand any chance of a better job on the wards, with more complicated cases, if all she could do was decide "where it hurt" and send the patients away?

Lily's eye was caught by a sudden movement in cubicles and decided to go over and see what was going on. The curtain was open so she stepped around it quickly.

"Oh hi Ethan."

"Hi Lily. Have you got a minute?"

"Of course. The ED is almost empty."

Ethan smiled at her, before explaining what he was asking her to do. Lily nodded. Ethan thanked her profusely before leaving the cubicle. Lily closed the curtain, ensuring it was properly shut. Lily turned to the young woman lying on the bed, ensuring she understood what was going on, before helping her undress and replace her bloodied, ripped, dirty clothes with clean, if oversized, long-lost property. Drawing back the curtain, Lily called Ethan back. Thanking her again, Ethan returned to treating the patient. Lily left quickly but had barely got to the staff room before Ethan had sent the woman up to Wards. Lily turned and walked back to the cubicle. She was probably mistaken. Seeing Ethan completing ED notes, she asked him in surprise.

"That was your patient, wasn't it? I thought she was a complex case. Weren't you trying to work something out?"

"Well yes, but I've done what I needed to do. I would have really liked to have more time to define exactly what it was. But the ward doctors would have just rechecked my diagnosis and I may well have been wrong. They have the better, specialist equipment and I'm just an ED doctor; they probably would have ignored it anyway."

Lily thought carefully, she has never considered it like that before. But Ethan had not yet finished talking.

"And I don't know if you've noticed, but Mrs Beauchamp is a bit of a dragon when she wants to be. And she's decided that I really need to limit treatment times." Ethan joked. Lily laughed at the joke, technically at the expense of the slightly tyrannical Clinical Lead. But when the laughter stopped, the serious thought-provoking dilemma remained. Was it simply a waste of time to try and develop more complex diagnosis? Should she confirm its severity and send patients to specialist wards and doctors?

Ethan must have seen her look of confusion and hurt, as he started to talk again. "That isn't to say, don't try to diagnose more complex conditions, just don't spend too much time working on that when the patient would be better off on a specific ward. I mean obviously on night shifts, or when the wards are closed, try and diagnose but if there's a queue a mile long, use your time effectively."

Lily smiled (Ethan tended to have that impact on her) but the whole discussion made more sense, if you think of it like that. It's not a choice between in depth diagnosing or not, it's doing what is best, not just for that patient (who may be better cared for on a ward anyway) but for the other patients, who are still waiting for a doctor. They are just as important as the more interesting cases. Lily smiled at Ethan, locking away another useful lesson in treating patients. Ethan always had time to help her, no matter how small or unimportant the matter was. They grinned at each other, lost for a while.

"Dr Chao! Dr Hardy! Don't you have work to do?"

"Yes Mrs Beauchamp." They laughed together, before turning and returning to work.

* * *

**Sorry its short. And late. And possible doesn't make any sense.  
Im about three weeks behind with watching so yeah.  
But here's the new chapter which at least one person's been waiting for (thank you Guest)**

**So hugs, Elizabeth  
P.S. i might publish the next chapter tomorrow if i have time**


	3. Pessimism

**I am fully aware this is now months and months out of date, and I'm sorry I hadn't published it, considering I had already written it but voila! Sorry again anyone who was possibly still waiting **

* * *

Lily carefully read the patient's notes, the results of the swabs and the section of the reference book. Shaking her head, she attempted to dismiss the ideas she now had about the severity of the patient's condition. It was unlikely that the young boy had this specific form and complications of the disease. However it fitted the records perfectly, the exact skin condition fully explained as symptoms of this disease. But although the likelihood of him having contracted the infection was high, these complications were incredibly rare. Lily felt like ignoring it, but if she did and the patient did have impetigo, specifically the post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis complications, his health was at serious risk. This dangerous complication could lead to kidney damage and even the simpler form was highly contagious and irritating to the skin. Removing her glasses, she cleaned them carefully, her mind still whirring. In all honesty, Lily had no idea as to whether the boy was at risk of complications. The boy did however almost certainly have impetigo, and the more painful and likely to scar complication, ecythma.

Although she was pleased to have diagnosed the painful blisters on the boy's skin and found the correct prescription for antibiotics that the boy's father could collect later, she still felt wary of the risk posed by post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis.

A nearby movement distracted her momentarily. Ethan having finished treating his latest patient was now taking a quick break. Lily decided there was no one better to ask so she might as well request a second opinion from him.

"Ethan! Do you have a second?"

Ethan's face lit up with a smile, as Lily called his name. "Of course, Lily. What is it?"

Lily then had to explain that the boy had come into the ED after accidentally breaking his arm while at school and how after a routine examination, Dr Simmons had found several small areas of itchy, pus-filled "crusty" blisters on the boy's face and arms. Although of course her first priority had been the fracture, the areas of irritation had seemed as though they also needed treatment. As such, when Lily had been left without a patient, she had taken responsibility for researching the strange infections. Ethan listened carefully, before reading over both Dr Simmons' observational report and Lily's possible encyclopaedia explanation. After a few minutes, Ethan turned to Lily, seemingly surprised.

"I agree this seems like simple development of 'impetigo', leading to 'ecthyma'. What seems to be the problem?"

"Well I was reading up about impetigo, specifically ecthyma and there would appear to be a possibility of the bacteria attacking the kidneys." Lily continued, seemingly seriously worried.

"How much of a possibility?" Ethan asked, now concerned of such a risk to the young patient's health.

"Less than one per cent of cases experience post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis." Lily replied quietly, managing not to trip over the difficult name of the condition.

"Oh." Ethan relaxed, the young patient was not at any real risk of severe complications. "He'll be okay then? Antibiotics and anti-inflammatory cream to treat it. And possibly anti-itching salve if the blisters are really bothering him. Are you going to tell the parents now?"

"Yes, the boy's father is with him before they go up to wards." Lily answered before turning away to walk to cubicles. Ethan walked after her, falling in to step easily with the F2.

"I can come with you, to talk to the boy and his dad. Unless you don't want me to?" He asked, slightly nervously.

Lily showed a rare smile, "That would be great Ethan. I mean, you agree, about the disease, the diagnosis even, so..." Lily trailed off awkwardly. Cleaning her glasses, she repeated her earlier statement. "Yes, it's okay if you want to come with me."

They both smiled quickly, looking away from the other, before they reached the cubicle they were looking for.

Lily pulled back the curtain, revealing Jemma carefully fitting a brace to the young boy's arm while his father watched nervously.

"Hi Jemma, are we interrupting?" Lily asked cautiously.

"No, " Her friend replied quickly, "I'm just finishing now." Turning to the dark-haired man, whom Lily assumed was the boy's father; Jemma explained the purpose of Lily's arrival. "So you see, my colleague, Dr Chao, thinks she has discovered the curse of those horrible itchy blisters, but I'll leave it up to her to explain. Back in a minute," she smiled, "I'm just going to go and set up an orthopaedic outpatient appointment for Jack."

Lily smiled back, before focusing all her attention on the two people in front of her. "So as Dr Simmons said, I think I know what it is causing these blisters. Can I just ask do you often skin your elbows Jack?"

"All the time!" His father joked, "Jack's very clumsy; always covered in mud and scratches. Never done anything as bad as this before though, have you son?"

Jack shook his head determinedly.

Lily started to speak once more, "I think Jack may have picked up a certain form of bacterial infection, possibly one of the times he fell over. This is what has caused the blisters."

Jack's father looked concerned. "Is it treatable?" He asked, worry lacing his voice.

Lily replied calmly, "Entirely so. We can give you a prescription for the appropriate antibiotics, for the underlying problem, and anti-inflammatory cream, to help deal with the worst-infected areas."

"Thank you doctor." The man seemed more relaxed, worry for his son decreasing. "You'll be alright again soon Jack, back to causing mischief before we know it."

Lily however continued talking, "I must warn you however," Ethan, standing by the curtain, groaned quietly; Lily was clearly going to ruin what had been a perfect diagnosis, "There is a small risk of further complications, leading to a possibility of kidney damage."

"Kidney damage?" The boy's father asked in horror. "How much of a risk?"

Ethan interrupted hurriedly, before Lily could further distress the patient and his father. "The chances of these specific complications developing in Jack's case are less than 1 in a thousand. And if you excuse us, I need to talk to my colleague." After opening the curtain for Lily, Ethan followed her outside. He walked a little away from the cubicle before turning to her, disappointment and anger clearly visible on his face.

"Why did you say that?" He asked, trying not to shout.

"I had to warn them of all possibilities." Lily replied flatly.

"Not one of less than one per cent probability!" Ethan said, louder than intended.

"But what if it does develop?" Lily asked, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"In the highly unlikely event it does, the ward will deal with it and fully explain to the parents what is happening." Ethan continued, growing slightly calmer as he spoke. "But there is a ninety-nine per cent chance post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis will not develop in this specific case."

Lily replied immediately, "But it might! And we have to warn parents what might happen."

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose, forcing himself to remain quiet. "But what now?" He asked bitterly. "Jack doesn't understand what's going on, his father can't focus on being there for him if he's worrying about kidney damage and I pity the poor ward nurse, who has deal with them in this state." He rounded on her, scarily calm, "And it's all your responsibility. So why don't you go back in there and explain to those poor scared people what the hell is going on."

"I had to warn them!" Lily finally losing control almost shouted. "What if it does develop? And they don't know what's going on?"

"If there is a real chance of severe complication, tell the patient, obviously. But there's a line between warning a patient, and scaring them. And you crossed it." Ethan replied seriously, worry creasing his brow. "Now go and explain what post-streptococcal... go and explain what the complication means for Jack. Calm them down, explain how there's only a tiny chance of it occurring."

Lily set her jaw grimly, opened the curtain and started to explain. Ethan sank into a chair, sighing heavily.

Tess rounded the corner, clearly looking for someone. Seeing Ethan sitting, half-collapsed in a chair, she smiled knowingly.

"Lily?"

"You have no idea."

"You know," Tess said carefully, aware of the dangerous territory she was stepping in to, "Most people would have given up by now."

Ethan replied without looking up, "Lily's a great doctor, she just needs to work on her people skills."

"That's exactly why most people would have given up. People skills -not book learning- does the doctor make." Tess continued knowingly. "Are you sure that's the only reason?"

Ethan sighed. "I'm positive Tess. And if you excuse me," he stood up wearily, "I do have work to be doing." Tess looked him in the eye, fully convinced he was lying but leaving it be, until they were both ready.

Walking away, Ethan was mentally berating himself, not only had he almost lost his temper with Lily, he was still struggling to keep his emotions under lock. Maybe he should learn a lesson from Lily.

Eventually Lily also stepped out of the cubicle, wracked with guilt from the terror she had seen on Jack's father face. He had been terrified by her diagnosis. She had been scaremongering and Jack had paid the price. She had learned her lesson the hard way, but she had learnt from Ethan and that scared yet still protective father, never to talk of unlikely risks that lead only to confusion and unnecessary worry.


End file.
